Just The Two Of Us

Mom And Daughter

A Sad Making Friday Night

7:05

It's 7:00, morning is just beginning to awaken, the sky filled with streaks of light and dark.  I have been up since 5:30, mostly because both Evie and I were up at 3:30 to see both Beth and Marisa off to the airport.  Their flight home to Dallas leaves Buffalo at 6:30, thus the need to be up early and on the road by 3:45.  It's 8:50 and I just returned from a paddle, winding my way around ice floes, making sure I didn't get stuck out in the ice.  It was a chilly 27º but spectacularly sunny morning on the lake.  I love it. When I returned to the shore,  I could hear the crunch as a boat slowly broke through the ice over by Long Point.

Kayak Morning

Paddling Into The Sun

Yesterday was our last with Beth and Marisa.  We managed to get through it, however, with Beth and I going to an instructive yoga class with Julie who took some extra time with Beth which was nice.  We then stopped at Ryder's Cup, talked with both Joyce and Dave for ten minutes before driving home.  Marisa was up and she and Evie were thinking about what to make on her final day here at the lake. 

Happy To Be Baking With Her Granddaughter

They settled on a recipe for Hellriegal Inn's cinnamon rolls.  Our good Finnish friend Vi was able to get the priceless recipe from the granddaughter of the woman who made the rolls each day for Hellriegals. She found it cross stitched on a quilt in the Finnish Museum in Fairport Harbor, Ohio.   Our high school used to have sports banquets at Hellriegals in Painesville, Ohio, and the highlight of the meal was their cinnamon rolls. So Evie and Marisa put the dough together after lunch and let it rise till later in the afternoon.

A Dazzling Duo And Delicious Dozen (minus 2 for tasting)

Beth and I had our other half of sandwich from our lunch on Thursday at the Labyrinth Press Cafe in Jamestown. I also finished the matzo ball soup while watching more of NARCOS on Netflix.  Beth and Marisa spent part of the afternoon packing, making sure they had everything.  Around 3:00, they drove off to Webb's to get their famous fudge for the family but found that Webb's was no longer making fudge because of a lack of customers.  They will start again in February.  I guess because of the lack of snow, visitors are way down and shops and restaurants are hurting.  They did manage to find a box of turtles, however, my favorite candy.

Kayak Afternoon

While they were at Webb's, I decided to kayak since the lake was quiet and calm the sky beginning to turn blue and the sun was out.  I decided to paddle north and west as far as Whitney Bay and then back, hugging the shoreline.  As always, it was great to be on the lake, the sun warming me this time before it started to drop behind the trees.  I was not the only one on the lake as I saw a fishing boat or two, anchored off of Long Point.

A Rosy Fingered Dusk

Long Point at 4:45 PM

We relaxed with a glass of wine until 6:00 when we got serious about dinner.  We were having two racks of lamb, so I seared both in olive oil, then placed them in a hot oven of 450º for twenty minutes until their internal temperature was 125º.  Evie had also pulled out a baked ziti from the freezer and heated that up as well so we had a great dinner, lamb and baked ziti, salad, and a bottle or two of red wine.  And of course, we had Hillriegal's cinnamon rolls to complement the dinner, filling us up so we could hardly move.  They are hard to say no to. 

Friday Night With Marisa

We didn't get through with dishes until 8:00, so we watched two more episodes from The Great British Baking Show.  Both Beth and Marisa also finished packing up, making sure they had everything and brought the bags downstairs before going up to be around 10:00, hoping to get some sleep before their 3:30 awakening.  I don't think either of them slept much, typical if you have to get up so early.  Fortunately, they will be home in Dallas mid-morning so they will have the day to catch up on their sleep.